Partnership between Children and Adults?

Abstract

This article discusses the potential and dilemmas of children’s participation in large-scale international events. It focuses on the experience of the International Children’s Conference on the Environment (ICCE), which brought together 400 children aged 10-12 from 60 countries around the world. ‘Partnerships’ between children, children and adults, and children and institutions during the planning of the event serve as a focal point for the analysis. The article considers how the partnerships behind the scenes were often strained, and though challenging, this may be a necessary characteristic of meaningful child participation. The article also highlights the critical place of learning as an outcome of partnership. This leads to a discussion on how partnerships need to be fostered in the everyday lives of children, in order for child participation in one-off events to be effective.